The ability to safely and efficiently access an elevated surface continues to be a goal of the general public. Such elevated surfaces are often accessed using a set of stairs, or a ladder, to provide access to the surface.
Many residential applications provide an attic space over a garage or other part of the residential structure. In such cases, a set of retractable attic stairs can often be pulled down and extended to provide a ladder-like staircase. Generally, the user ascends the stairs to enter the attic space through an access aperture extending through the attic floor (and the ceiling of the lower level).
It is often the case that the attic stairs will remain in this extended position so long as the user remains in the attic, to enable the user to eventually leave the attic and return to the lower floor. While the user is occupied with activities within the attic such as manipulating objects stored there, bringing objects up to the attic or retrieving objects down from the attic, the user will generally need to take care not to inadvertently step through the open attic access aperture and fall down the stairs to the lower surface.
The lack of a railing around an open aperture in a raised surface such as an attic floor can increase the chances of serious accident or death for anyone who ascends onto such surface. The dangers have been recognized by international safety organizations such as the International Code Council. In 2006, the International Code Council adopted residential building codes that specify guard rails around all raised floor surfaces over 30 inches above the floor. Similarly, the International Code Council adopted codes that specify a handrail to extend from above a bottom step to above a top step at a minimum height of 36 inches.
Attempts have been made in the art to provide safety railings around apertures in elevated surfaces, such as exemplified by U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,681,528 and 6,272,800. Nevertheless, there remains a continued need for improvements in the art to address these and other considerations, including but not limited to residential attic spaces.